The Last Roman (The Praetorian Series - Book I)

by Edward Crichton

  ***

  About five minutes later, I heard someone calling my name. It sounded distinctly feminine, but in my near deathlike state, I couldn’t be sure. Peeking through my right eye, I noticed a blurry figure dangling long, thin, snake like protrusions in my face. They smelled wonderful. As my vision cleared, I realized it was Helena, her face dangerously close to mine, her hair tickling my cheeks and forehead.

  I groaned. “Aw, mom, I don’t wanna go to school this morning.”

  She cocked her head to the side and gave me a dubious look. “Mother?”

  I lifted my head off the pillow but just as quickly lowered it before I could get a real look at what was underneath Helena’s loose fitting shirt, forcing the inevitable image out of my head.

  “Sigh,” I said. “Fine. You win.”

  “That’s what I thought. Now get up. They’ve given us some food so we’d better eat while we have the chance.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I asked, getting comfortable with my feather pillow again. “Wake me up for lunch. I just fell asleep.”

  “Jacob. As far as we can tell, it’s well past midday. You’ve been asleep almost twelve hours. We all have.”

  I opened my right eye again and rolled it to look at her. “Damn, time flies when you’re having fun.”

  “I bet” she said, offering me a hand. “Now get up.”

  “I take it back. You’re worse than mom ever was.”

  “Just get up,” she said, playful irritation in her voice.

  Groaning, I took her hand, and hauled myself up under my own power, fully aware of her injuries. On my feet, I noticed her Roman style clothing slip down one of her shoulders scandalously.

  She smiled as she fixed the slip and I couldn’t help but give her a whimsical look.

  This was going to be a long life in ancient Rome.

  Sighing, I pulled her close, and wrapped her arm over my shoulder to help her limp out of the room.

  We made our way to the main room to find the rest of the team seated on the floor eating bread, cheese, fruit, a bird of some kind, and a gloopy oatmeal type food. Helping Helena to the floor, she and I quickly devoured what we could. We were famished, and I tore into the unknown fowl like a ravaged lion. The rest of the team quietly ate their food at a more reserved rate, having already had their first course. It seemed Vincent was already finished and I watched him take a few sips of his wine. He glanced at the cup approvingly and nodded.

  In ancient Rome, fresh water was a scarcity, so most of the time wine was used as a perfectly acceptable substitute. Its alcohol content was extremely high, which worked well to fight off bacteria. Romans watered it down as much as possible, but ancient wine was still far more potent than the variety found in the 21st century. The wine also tended to be extremely dry, as opposed to sweet or fruity, making it a very acquired taste. I happened to like it, as apparently did Vincent, but I was sure it would take the rest a while to get used to, especially Bordeaux. I couldn’t imagine any Frenchman liking excessively dry wine.

  Washing my food down with my own glass, I too gave the wine an approving nod. I noticed Helena wince after she tried it.

  “Don’t like it?”

  She placed a hand on her throat, as though she were parched. “It’s so dry, I can barely swallow it.”

  “Get used to it. It’s all they got.”

  “Great.”

  Vincent put his glass down and cleared his throat. “Last night, Hunter and I had the chance to speak to none other than Caligula himself. I’m not sure what you people know about him, but we were happily surprised. At some point early in his reign, he becomes rather insane, a result of a horrible fever, or so some think. Thankfully, we got here before that happened. Instead of murdering us outright, he agreed to let us live. He has also given us the opportunity to prove our worth to him, which will hopefully allow us to work with the Romans to find a way home.”

  “How?” Bordeaux asked.

  “Well, Caligula accidentally turned on my flashlight last night, and needless to say, was thoroughly impressed. He also knows of our weapons, but has no idea how they work. Basically, he wants us to give him a demonstration.”

  “You realize,” Santino started, “that if what Hunter rambled on about last night is true, if we do this, we will probably change the course of history?”

  “Perhaps, but it’s not like we are supplying the entire Roman army with firearms. What harm could occur from us just showing them what we can do? I suspect very little. However, there is more you should know. Hunter’s done a little more, ‘thinking,’ I suppose you could put it, and he’s got something you all should hear.”

  All eyes turned toward me expectantly.

  Sighing, I retold my thoughts on time travel, and how in the end, everything I’ve said may mean nothing… everything about paradoxes, light speed, and duplicating, magical, time traveling spheres. I tried to spread things out a bit more, simplifying information and adding more detail. I wanted to make sure everyone was following, and that I limited confusion to a minimum. By the time I was finished, every face seemed deep in thought, except for Santino, who was never one for deep thought.

  “You know, Jacob. I always thought you were just that shy guy who sat at the end of the bar and got all the ladies because they saw some deep, contemplative, brooding type fella, just looking for some love. Now, I’ve finally realized that you’re just a big nerd.”

  His joke received the desired response. Everyone laughed and it snapped them from the looks of worry they all wore after having just heard how dire our situation actually was. Soon, the group was arguing among themselves about how we were going to get back, except for Wang, who still seemed wrapped in his own little world.

  Vincent got to his feet, raising his hands for silence. “Whatever the case may be, we need to worry about our safety and survival. So we focus on the demonstration, if for nothing else, so that they’ll agree to dig out McDougal and we can put him to rest. Bordeaux, do you still have any explosives?”

  “Oui, I was not forced to use it all on the cavern. Besides, that container has plenty.”

  “Right. I forgot. Good. We’ll use some of it in our demonstration. A small amount, however. We don’t want to give too much away. Wang, leave your medical supplies here, but bring some pain relievers, maybe we can impress them with our medical knowledge as well. The rest of us will demonstrate rifle and small arms fire. Strauss, you are you able to field your DSR-1?”

  “I should be,” she replied, trying to stretch her injured leg, “as long as I can do it sitting down. I can’t stand for long on my own and I don’t think I could lay on my stomach with my leg.”

  “Fine. Hunter, back her up. We can’t afford to botch this one. We need to impress them beyond a shadow of a doubt, so look sharp.”